{secret songs of your surroundings}

Christopher DeLaurenti

RapidRide

An interactive audio project captures the sounds of place.

What stories can be heard in the sounds of a bus corridor?

For the RapidRide A Line in South King County, Christopher DeLaurenti created {secret songs of your surroundings}, a temporary sonic portrait of the corridor that highlighted discrete sounds, sound patterns, and the act of listening itself. It was the first sound-based public art project ever commissioned by 4Culture.

Visual prompts on RapidRide buses and stops invited commuters to listen and co-compose a unique soundscape, either online or by phone. Online, riders used three sliders to control the audio output; the three continuums ranged from past to future, mysterious to obvious, and relax to explore. By phone, they used the phone keypad to create a randomized mix. These interactions were available in seven languages commonly spoken along the corridor.

Mining the route and its proximate surroundings, DeLaurenti, who produced his first field recordings aboard King County buses, encountered and recorded a plethora of audio activity. The field recordings he selected for inclusion ranged from amplified resonances of abandoned houses to serendipitous interviews on the streets.

Based in Seattle, DeLaurenti is a composer, improvisor, and phonographer. His sound work includes field recordings, electroacoustic and acousmatic music, text-sound scores, free-improvised low-tech electronics, and compositions for acoustic instruments.

About the Location

RapidRide

Launched in 2009 with the creation of the A Line, RapidRide is King County Metro’s premier transit service, a network of limited-stop bus routes that provide frequent trips in six major transit corridors covering 64 miles across the county—with additional lines scheduled to debut in the years ahead. Different from standard bus service, RapidRide lines…

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